Fic: Invisible Sun (1/?)
I actually got this idea a few weeks ago, and started writing two weeks ago (and I really should be writing posts for a RPG oops -_-;;) it was never meant to be quite so AUish, but the most recent issue of Birds of Prey has firmly shoved it in that category.
Title: Invisible Sun (1/?)
Rating: currently Teen-ish?, could go up, probably won't.
Disclaimer: If I owned them quite a few of them would not be dead. As it is they belong to DC & Warner Bros.
Warning: AU, for quite a number of reasons. Sadly not beta'd (most of those I would normally ask don't know much about the DCU, the Flash or his Rogues. )
Wordcount: 1538
Summary: Piper has a bad day, Linda feels regret, Savant and Creote serve tea.
*~*
It had not been a good day for Piper. First he was woken up by a call from his relatives' lawyers trying to entice him into what he knew would be an attempt to get him committed again. Then twenty of his rats were killed by exterminators (sent by the fore-mentioned lawyers) before he could get them to understand that he did not want or need their services. The burials left him with no stomach for breakfast.
At lunchtime, which for Piper was three in the afternoon, Captain Cold and company came storming out of a mirror and threatened to kill him for squealing on them to the police about their schemes. Schemes he had no knowledge of, and he hadn't spoke to the police at all since they had sent him to the emergency room then home after he had tried to tell them about Libra and the Society's plans; apparently the Twin Cities police departments felt Inertia had gotten exactly what he deserved. Perhaps it had been a bit much, but he made them all (except Walker, that just felt too squicky) dance all the way to Keystone's central Police station naked save for judiciously worn tube socks and duct tape. He almost felt bad that he had implanted the idea that that had been Mirror Master's idea in their minds, almost.
A late afternoon nap left him shaking in terror, and desperately wishing he could come up with a better reason than psychosomatic for the bruises on his arms.
Much later he went out to get some milk, and almost ran into Wally and Linda, and his ex-boyfriend James, his new partner and their daughter, at the store. While part of him was glad to see them all doing well and happy, part of him just wanted to slink out before any of them noticed him. However they were monopolizing the only open register, so he settled for pulling his sweatshirt hood up and pretending to be fascinated by the variety of dairy products and other drinks at the back of the store, while he heard every gushing word.
The sky opened up and started to pour as he walked back, leaving him soaked as he approached home. He slowed as a few brave rats let him know that someone, two someones were in his house. It was infuriating that the rain drown out just enough that he couldn't quite hear where the intruders were in the rambling mansion from outside.
Sighing, Piper decided he'd rather deal with whoever it was then drown from the increasing downpour. Straightening up from a slouch he told himself he was ready for anything.
Anything except a loud and cheerful, and flying tackle hug:
"Hartley!"
'Oh gods no.'
*~*
The pillow was too hot. Wally's ankle was in precisely the wrong place. The house was too quiet with the kids staying over at Barry and Iris'. There was some unplaceable slight buzzing guaranteed to keep sleep from coming.
'Or your conscience has kicked into overdrive,' Linda thought, as she shifted in the deeply sleeping Wally's arms, 'and you can't help wondering where Piper is and if he's okay.'
At the time running into James had been a pleasant encounter toward the end of a nice date night. But now it lead to thoughts that Linda hadn't had much time for given how full her hands had been with their children. Such as what had become of an old friend.
She had never been able to accept that Piper would have done anything to hurt Bart, much less kill him, and she had been glad to later hear he had been cleared, in absentia, of that horror. Still, she hadn't gone out of her way to find out what had happened to him, and now that was gnawing at the pit of her stomach. Piper had finally seemed to be recovering when she and Wally and the kids had gone to Savoth. In retrospect, she could even understand why Piper had started hanging around the Rogues again; even bad friends were better than no friends at all.
'Okay, not going to get any sleep like this.'
Linda carefully squirmed her way free from her octopus of a husband, then paused to kiss his forehead and stroke his hair when he whined in his sleep and reached for the warmth that had just disappeared.
"Be back soon, sweetie," she whispered in his ear, and the distress lines on his face softened a little. Linda padded to her small home office and grabbed her laptop, then returned to bed. She sat with her back against the headboard and her computer balanced on one thigh while she waited.
As she predicted, Wally shifted in his sleep, searching until his head was rested against her other thigh, and his arms wrapped around her knee. Linda chuckled softly, and ruffled his hair, then cracked open the Internet and started a preliminary search.
*~*
What had been annoying, but at least somewhat endearing at age nine, get firmly place in the plain annoying file at age twenty-eight. But Piper wasn't going to complain; out of all his relatives, Brian was probably the only one he didn't completely mind just dropping in. He did mind that Brian and the silent red-headed behemoth had broken in and made themselves at home while he was at the store. He did mind that he had been given a bone-achingly tight hug and then cheerfully told he was too thin. Piper also minded that one of his mother's tea sets apparently had been taken out of a room he tried desperately to ignore. On the other hand it was pleasant to have someone peel off his soaked sweatshirt, wrap a large, soft, dry towel around him, take his groceries, put them away, and serve him hot tea with lemon. No one had been that kind to him in a long time.
It was also the most threatening cup of tea he had ever been served, although Brian didn’t even seem to notice the dagger glare his...friend? lover? minder? was giving Piper.
“Erm, Brian? “ Piper gently interrupted Brian’s chatter about something that seemed to have to do with Monopoly, “Maybe you could introduce me to..?”
“Oh, yes,” Brian blinked, “Hartley, this is Creote,” and resumed his story.
‘Okay, that seemed to knock the deathray glare down exactly none,’ Piper thought, as he did try to keep track of Brian’s ramble, ‘And Creote is?’
“There are rats here,” a disgusted rumble startled Piper, and he was up in a flash, standing between the larger redhead and a small gathering of rats.
“They are my rats,” Piper firmly stated, his flute almost to his lips. Then it dawned on him. The hand with the flute in it went down to his side, while his free hand covered his face for a moment while he stopped himself from letting loose with laughter, “Brian forgot tell you who I am, didn't he?”
The looks on both Brian and Creote’s faces confirmed it.
“Brian…” Piper sighed, then he looked at Creote and smiled brightly in false advertising way, “Hi, I’m Brian’s cousin, second cousin once removed actually, Hartley Rathaway, you may know me better as the”
“Pied Piper,” that did seem to soften the stony features a bit, then a glint of humor entered the flinty eyes, "And I take it that you do not know your cousin is also known as Savant?"
"What?" Piper almost gave himself whiplash turning toward his cousin. He had heard of Savant. A hacker, an extortionist, and rumored to be attached to Oracle.
Brian offered a grin that was suppose to be sheepish, except it was far too pleased, and pushed hand through his blonde hair.
"Looks like it's in the blood, the villainy I mean," Savant chuckled, stopping at the look Piper leveled at him, "maybe the reforming too," he admitted with a tiny shrug, "that why I was telling you about trying to get the 'get out of hell free' card. It kind of brought some things front and center for me," another shrug and he was off the couch and between Piper and Creote, putting arm around their shoulders,"and since my last experience with reformation was not exactly a roaring success, I thought I should go see someone I know reformed and see what I could learn. How to make it stick this time."
"My reformation hasn't exactly been a 'roaring success' either lately," Piper said drily, "as you might have noticed."
'Then again with Brian you can never tell.'
"Are you tempted to return to really being a supervillian?" Creote asked.
"NO!" Piper surprised himself with the vehemence of his response, then more calmly, "no, I'm not. As bad as things have gotten.... Just no."
"There then, you are the perfect person to learn from," Brian looked a little too pleased, “Gotham has too many bad past issues attached to it, so I decided we’re going to start over here.”
Warning bells were sounding in Piper's head.
"Have you found a place to stay yet?"
"Actually, I was going to ask if we could stay here?"